Pizarro welcomes fight for Blues' place

Claudio Pizarro last night confronted the reality of having to dislodge either a 33- goal striker in Didier Drogba or the £30m forward Andriy Shevchenko to hold down a place in Chelsea's first team, but insisted he could be the player to "make a difference" as his new team-mates attempt to regain the Premier League title.

The 28-year-old forward trained with the senior squad for the first time yesterday since completing his free transfer from Bayern Munich, having been granted time off after involvement in the Copa América with Peru.

Pizarro boasted 70 goals in 174 Bundesliga appearances with Bayern having previously played in Germany with Werder Bremen. Though he conceded he has not been a prolific scorer over his career, he is confident he can force his way into the first team.

"It'll be hard, of course, because Drogba and Shevchenko are good players who have scored many goals," said Pizarro. "And I'm not a player who has scored 30 or 20 goals in a season - I could, but it depends upon how we play and what the trainer wants from me. I know about the pressure. I have experienced big competition [for places] before.

"When I went to Bayern Munich they had Carsten Jancker, [Giovanni] Elber and [Alexander] Zickler, all players of good quality, and I played almost always. It was only last season that I wasn't in the team so much. I have confidence in what I can do."

Jose Mourinho had been anxious to add more firepower, especially because of Drogba's expected involvement in next year's African Cup of Nations. Given that Shevchenko struggled to make the desired impact in his first year in England, Pizarro could have a significant role to play, particularly with the manager keen to employ a 4-4-2 formation with wingers at times in the season ahead.

"I'm convinced he will be a success," said Mourinho. "He is not a young boy, but there is always place for an improvement and competitive and aggressive qualities can make him even better. He has played in Europe for eight years and they have made him a player with a European touch, but he has South American qualities, too. He's intelligent and holds the ball up well."